Method for inspection of optical elements

摘要

An optical inspection apparatus and method for optical elements. The apparatus comprises a surface profiler in data communication with a computing platform, and utilizes an overlap integral between an expected output field based on the designed profile and the calculated output field based on the measured profile. The overlap integral is utilized in one embodiment to calculate the expected loss of the optical element. In another embodiment, the overlap integral is utilized to calculate the amount of undesired wave function. The method an apparatus are useful for both flat and curved dielectric materials and may be utilized with both reflecting and non-reflecting surfaces.